Focus on... A green revolution for Africa

New seed varieties, irrigation and fertiliser were the basis of the green revolution in Asia, transforming agricultural production and enabling countries such as India, to avert famine. High yielding varieties of rice, wheat and maize helped to secure a doubling in cereal production and provided food for a rapidly expanding population.

Forty years on, the world has undoubtedly benefited, but is also now perhaps reaping the consequences of that revolution. The rapid rise in food prices, particularly for grain, has left many poor people at risk from hunger, and for the first time since the 1970s, the world is consuming more than it produces. At the recent World Food Summit, the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, stated that food output needs to rise by 50 per cent by 2030. His call is echoed by his predecessor, Kofi Annan, now chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, who is demanding greater investment in agriculture across the continent.

Achieving an African green revolution will be harder and more complex than the green revolution in Asia and a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Technology alone will also not provide the answers. In this edition of New Agriculturist, we review a selection of approaches with a potential for raising agricultural productivity in Africa.

Two years of good weather, combined with a government subsidy scheme on maize seed and fertiliser, have produced record harvests in Malawi. However, with the rising cost of fertiliser, does it still represent Malawi's best solution to food insecurity?

A pioneeering agricultural radio programme in Kenya has led to local radio stations broadcasting their own versions in vernacular languages, including Kikuyu, Kikamba and Kalenjin. Farmers now have regular and reliable sources of information on the key activities in the relevant regions, such as fruit farming, dairying, fishing or maize production.

On Lesotho's highly eroded plateau, no-tillage conservation agriculture techniques are raising farm productivity. Last year, despite the worst drought in three decades, farmers were able to sell surplus grain to the World Food Programme.